Never underestimate the popularity of Hello Kitty. Netflix has shared the top ten non-English speaking shows for the week of July 21st to July 27th. Unsurprisingly, Squid Game Season 3 remains the top series with over 28.5 thousand hours viewed for the week. Even though the show debuted a month beforehand on June 27th, Squid Game continues to dominate among television discussions and social awareness. The show has a strong international fan base, and people worldwide are likely still catching the show a month after its release. Nonetheless, My Melody & Kuromi taking up the second spot, with over 11.8 thousand hours viewed, is the more surprising revelation in the chart.
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My Melody & Kuromi beat out popular anime series, including Dandadan Season 2, for the fourth week of July. However, for context, Netflix released the first season of My Melody & Kuromi all at once on July 24th, meaning all those hours viewed stem from the entire season. Dandadan releases weekly, meaning its total number of hourly viewership stems purely from one episode week in and week out. Furthermore, since all of My Melody & Kuromi is already out, it’s likely won’t have much staying power. Anyone who was planning to watch it probably already has, and with no new episodes releasing anytime soon, its viewership hours will likely drop next week.
What Is My Melody & Kuromi?
Nevertheless, given that there are only twelve My Melody & Kuromi episodes, and each episode is only 11 to 17 minutes long, the show’s 11.8 million hours are impressive. The strong viewership numbers highlight the strength of the Hello Kitty brand. Newer children’s shows also typically premiere well on Netflix. Given that it is summer vacation for many parts of the world, it leaves kids with plenty of time to discover and watch new shows on streaming. Moreover, the show spotlights the growing popularity of My Melody and Kuromi as pop culture characters.
My Melody & Kuromi is a stop-motion animated series starring the titular two characters. Sanrio created both characters, and they are part of the greater Hello Kitty branding. My Melody, the bubbly and girly rabbit, has opened a cake shop across the street from Kuromi’s Japanese sweets store. Kuromi, who is a more gothic and mischievous rabbit, declares My Melody her rival, and the two prepare for a sweets-based competition. Rei Sakuma and Junko Takeuchi voice My Melody and Kuromi in the Japanese sub, respectively, whereas Michelle Marie and Jenny Yokobori provide the English dub for the titular characters. My Melody & Kuromi is animated by Toruku Studio, a stop-motion division of Wit Studio, and was released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of My Melody and the 20th Anniversary of Kuromi.
H/T: Netflix
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Courtesy of Crunchyroll
